MUNICIPAL ARCHIVE RECEIVES PERSONAL COLLECTION OF MOLINA BROTHERS

The Xàbia Municipal Archive has received a donation of photographs and films/videos from brothers Vicent and Pepe Molina Ivars, a collection that showcases life in Xàbia from the 1960s to present day.

The collection consists of 9,963 photographs featuring fiesta, cultural and sporting events as well as day-to-day life in Xàbia and date from 1970 to the present day. In addition, there are 339 DVDs featuring footage from various fiesta and cultural events between 1990 and 2019 as well as 45 ‘Super 8’ format films of varied themes (Fogueres de Sant Joan, the fiesta of Santa Llúcia, the fiesta of Jesús Nazareno, bull-running events, sporting events, skits, natural disasters, municipal works, and the Easter Craft Fair dating from 1973 to 1989.

Vicent and Pepe Molina Ivars are well-known amongst the people of Xàbia and their love of photography and video meant that they were able to record local life which will now be preserved by the municipal archive. Everyone will remember their love of recording fiestas, especially in Super 8 format and over the years in different formats as well as their special care to preserve the photos, the oldest of which are in perfect condition.

The councillor responsible for Culture, Mavi Pérez (CPJ), joined the municipal archivist, Juanjo Más, to accept the first part of the donation from the Molina Ivars family. “[They] have given us this collection … and I want to thank them for its is very important for all Xàbia people to be able to have these memories,” she said, adding that opening the boxes of photographs was much like “opening a large trunk of memories of many generations, uncovering a large part of our history and our roots”.

Now the archive staff have the arduous task of processing the collection to guarantee its conservation and to allow it to be accessible to both researchers and local people.

Click here to access the municipal archive blogspot.